410 Court Square—This entire block, including 410 and 400 Court Square, was occupied by L. A. Black Hardware. Lester Asher Black was involved in a number of businesses, including hard- ware, rice and seed, farm implements and machinery, and he grew cotton, rice, and livestock. In 1912 he was one of the founding shareholders in the First National Bank of DeWitt, and by 1915, he was the bank president, a position he held until his death in 1945. He also founded Blue Seal Petroleum in 1929. L. A. Black Hardware’s original buildings burned in the late 1920s, but Mr. Black reconstructed this block, as you can see by looking at the concrete panel reading “L. A. Black 1938.” There was also a blacksmith shop behind Black’s to the east run by Mr. Earl. After the fire, Mr. Black moved his operations to the corner where Fault Line is now. So after these buildings were rebuilt in 1938, Bill Lorrick’s Dry Goods occupied this storefront at 410 Court Square. In the 1950s, this was Ed McKay’s Grocery and meat market.

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Court Square

Rather than being formed by intersecting streets, DeWitt’s court square was designed as a continuous street around a public square with one access street in the middle of each block. The northwest, northeast, and southwest corners have unique lots containing buildings with chamfered corner entrances. The town was platted in such a way that people wouldn’t just pass through the downtown and keep going—the courthouse and square would be your final des- tination. This is an extremely rare layout for a court square—I’ve never seen another town like it.